Arc 5: Chapter 5: Peer
Later, in the Emperor’s small council chamber, Markham tossed me a surly look as a servant worked at the fastens on his golden gauntlet.
“That was a shit show,” Markham said.
He sat by the room’s long table. His bodyguard stood near the door, helmed and anonymous as always. Off to the side, the Lord Steward and the Royal Clericon acted as the only other officials present, the latter armed with a quill in her function as scribe. I’d had time to clean up some, get my armor scrubbed of filth and my cloak dried out, with fresh clothes beneath.
I waited for more, but Markham’s flint gray eyes seemed to look past me. Then with a sigh he said, “Had I not cut in between you and Vander, he’d probably have challenged you to a duel. Why did you have to mention his father?”
I considered a moment, then decided excuses would get me nowhere. Not with this man. “Because he irritated me. And because… it was true, Your Grace. Maxim Braeve was very dedicated to the Table, and he would have agreed with how I’d handled that thing in the sewers.”
In fact, he’d have insisted on leaving Emma and Karog out of it. I didn’t mention that part, and I was cautious not to imply that the old paladin still lived. That secret, along with the existence of Oria’s Fane, were not mine to give. Perhaps Maxim’s son deserved to know about his father, but it wasn’t for me to decide.
Markham grunted, then grit his teeth as the servant unlatched the last catch on his elaborate gauntlet and pulled it from his shoulder. The Emperor of the Accorded Realms lifted his mangled right hand, sighed, and leaned back in his chair to regard me with cool appraisal.
“My councilors had a point,” He said.
Aware of the Steward looming nearby, I bit back the first retort that came to mind. Picking my words with care I said, “The problems I’m best at dealing with are those that need my personal hand, Your Grace. If I get held up by proper procedure, then—”
Markham leaned forward on his chair, something about his demeanor cutting my practiced words short. He wasn’t a large man, or a thin one. Age and the rigors of his position had used him hard. Yet, despite that, he had a way of commanding without speaking.
“I am aware that your abilities and training with the Alder Table make you uniquely suited to dealing with supernatural threats,” Markham said. “If I had a whole regiment of demon hunting warrior-priests, then believe me, I would use them. However, you are more than just a paladin of Seydis, Alken. You are the Headsman, and you agreed to integrate yourself into my government.”